Forgotten History
by AprilLilypegasi
Summary: Ganondorf was sent back into the past along with Link, but not to Hyrule. He arrived in Termina and spent years there, learning that what he had done in the past, trying to take Hyrule and the Triforce, had been wrong. He's made a good life for himself in Termina, but what'll happen when a young Hero of Time is found sleeping on his doorstep? And what's more, his memories are gone?


**This is a story for my girlfriend, Liz! I hope you enjoy this!**

 **I don't own the Legend of Zelda :P**

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I stretch and leave my house at the edge of the Woods of Mystery. I've lived here for roughly five years when time was reset after the war. I was surprised to find myself in Termina rather than in Hyrule, as the time reset should have only affected time and not my location. I was sent here with my memories of the past, but I didn't question why I was sent here, knowing that there had to be some reason.

I've made a very good life here during the past years, me being friends with most of the residents of Clock Town. I do know now that everything that I did during the war was bad and I shouldn't have let greed control me the way that I did… But now I know better, and besides, power and greed aren't all they're cracked up to be.

I hear a soft noise and I look down at the source...only to find the young hero of time passed out on my doorstep. I make a soft noise of confusion and surprise at how young he still is. He looks like he's roughly the same age that he was when his journey began...How could that be? I've been here five years, he should be fifteen not ten...Was I sent further back in time than the hero? If so, why?

I sigh softly and kneel down, lifting the boy into my arms easily. I know that he shouldn't be left out here alone as he's too vulnerable while sleeping. Who knows what could happen to him if I left him completely alone like this? I know that there are monsters in these woods and I shiver at the thought of what would happen if any of them were to find his prone form…

I carry the boy to a spare bedroom of mine and tuck him into the bed, smiling slightly at the comforted smile that appears on his face. I watch as he snuggles into the bed and I leave the room, heading to the kitchen for lunch. I know that my trip to Clock Town is going to have to wait for a few days, but that's fine as I'm not running too low on anything yet.

Once I'm finished with lunch, I check in on the boy to see him fidgeting, signs of him waking up. His sapphire blue eyes softly flutter open and he looks at me, his eyes filled with confusion and curiosity. I'm a bit confused why there's no hatred in his eyes, surely he recognizes me?

"Who...are you?" He asks and my eyes widen, not expecting that question at all.

What happened?! Why does he no longer remember me? "I am Ganondorf…" I say cautiously, feeling a bit relieved when the mere mention of my name doesn't jog his memory. "Do you not remember me?"

He tilts his head softly and has a sad look on his face, "Was I supposed to? I'm sorry...It's just, I don't remember anything besides waking up in this huge field alone...I went to the forest as I felt attached to it, don't really know why though…"

I nod my head slightly as my suspicions are confirmed, but what happened to the boy for him to lose his memory completely like this? "Well," I begin, "from what I know, your name is Link...and that you're originally from a land known as Hyrule, where I'm from as well."

Link nods and just looks at me curiously, "Did you know me?"

I make a face at this and chuckle nervously, "You...could say that...You and I never really got along that well…"

He makes a confused face and tilts his head, "Why? You seem really nice to me…"

I smile slightly at how sweet he is but I sigh, "That's a story for another time...When you regain some of your memories, otherwise you might not understand it…"

Link nods and smiles, "Alright."

I smile and sigh with relief, "Well, until you regain your memories, you're welcome to stay here." Link just grins at me and thanks me quickly, nodding his head eagerly.

My heart warms with his happiness and I'm glad that I was the cause of it. It's a nice look on him compared to the anger and hatred of the past…

Five years pass and he still hasn't regained any of his memories...I can tell that this disappoints him but he's quickly adapted to his new life with me, made easier by the fact he doesn't remember his old life. I've started to see him as a son and he views me as his father as I care for him whenever he needs it. I can honestly say that he's flourished under my care, but I might be a bit biased.

I've taught him magic and sword fighting as I know that it's very much an integral part of his past. Somehow, I've managed to make him even more capable than he was when he was the hero. I guess he was self-taught then and I just made his natural ability a lot more practiced and finessed.

We're now walking through the Woods of Mystery together, as he woke me up this morning asking if we could go and I saw no harm in it so I said yes. He starts looking carefully at the ground and I watch him lean over and pick something up, what appears to be a small green and red crystal. I watch as he freezes and I'm instantly worried, wondering what exactly is going on.

I wait for awareness to return to his eyes before asking, "Are you alright, son?"

He looks up at me, his sapphire eyes larger than usual. "I...just regained some of my memories…" His voice is dripping with shock as we both thought that he wouldn't regain the memories at this point.

I feel a burst of shock and fear go through me as I really do not want him learning of our past altercations… I would hate it if he got enough memories to make him hate me… I put on a mask of encouragement and happiness, "That's great! What memories did you get?"

"I explored this area as a child about eleven or so and saved the Deku Princess as she had been in trouble, but for what reason...I don't know...I only got the memories pertaining to this area... "

I nod in response, quickly figuring out that the crystal was the cause of him gaining his memories, as it had disappeared the minute it touched his hand. "Alright...Want to start exploring the rest of Termina to see if you can find more of those crystals?"

"Could we?!" He asks excitedly and I nod, causing him to beam and give a little cheer.

I just smile at this, "Okay...We'll start tomorrow. But for now, let's continue the walk." He nods and we start walking through the woods again, noticing a half-hidden excitement in his eyes as he clearly wants to regain more memories.

The next day, I take him to Snowhead to look for more crystals, as that's the next logical location in Termina to go. Link is constantly babbling about his emotions and how excited he is to gain knowledge of his past self. He states that it's annoying him that he doesn't know who he is especially now that he's seen part of what his past self did.

We journey through the entire mountain, only to find the crystal at the very top near where the temple is. This one is a light blue and white mix to represent the way that it's currently snowing lightly at this high altitude. Link giggles the minute that he spots it as it had been nearly hidden in the snow with how well it blended in. He reaches out and touches it, it disappearing on contact. I look at him curiously as he recounts his memories of this entire area, including the Goron Village, being covered in snow and him having to save the Gorons from freezing to death. He talks about the temple as well and I'm not too surprised at what he had to deal with, knowing what he was able to accomplish in Hyrule.

A wide smile spreads across his face, clearly happy to have more of his memories. I smile in response, just glad to see my son happy, this being the happiest I've ever seen him. "That's good, son, where to next?" He thinks for a minute before expressing a wish to go to Great Bay and I nod, that being where I'll take him tomorrow.

Come to think about it, I haven't fully let him explore Clock Town...He's always stuck near me whenever I've gone, so he wouldn't have had the chance to find the crystal there. We'll go at some point, likely after visiting the four cardinal regions. There might actually be one in Termina Field as well with the way the majority of these memories are occurring...He likely didn't explore too much before heading into the forest.

The next day, we scour the beach, not really wanting to go too deep into the water quite yet if we don't have to. And, to our happiness and slight surprise, we both see the blue and teal crystal just a little bit off the coast, still in the shallow portion of the water. Link walks over to it and touches it and I watch as a little more recognition comes into his eyes as he now knows around half of his journey in Termina.

He starts talking about his adventures here. I can hear each emotion clearly as he must have felt it then, the sadness of seeing Mikau die in front of him, more sadness at the fate of Lulu's eggs, though he was happy when they actually ended up hatching, the happiness at getting to hear Lulu sing and the feelings of adrenaline and adventure when he was doing the dungeon. He specifically mentions hating the stupid fish that he had to fight and I chuckle slightly at this, it sounding like him quite a bit. Awareness returns to his eyes and he makes to repeat himself, but I tell him that he was talking aloud and he nods.

He's becoming a little less childlike with each crystal that he finds, the memories of having to fight and witness such pain and sadness hurting him inside. I hope that we'll find a crystal that shows that everything turned out alright so that he can have some positive closure…

The remainder of the day is just spent enjoying the beach and the water while we can, me knowing that once we're finished with Termina, he'll want to go to Hyrule to experience his past there...I'm just not ready for him to hate me yet…

The next day we explore Ikana Canyon and I notice something tan and red blending into the rock formations. I call Link over and his eyes widen with delight as he reaches out to touch it. It disappears and he starts rambling about the emotions attached to this area. He talks about the Pamela and her father in the Music Box House, Captain Keeta, the King of Ikana before he moved on completely, the fear that he felt every time one of the Garos jumped him, the entirety of Stone Tower Temple and Twinmold. I am still stunned every time he recounts part of his adventure, though I really shouldn't be, knowing just what he's capable from my time against him.

He looks at me happily when awareness returns to those sapphire eyes, "Dad! I know so much about what I've done...but not why I've done it…"

I sigh at this but say, "I was thinking about taking you to Clock Town and around Termina Field tomorrow to look for crystals...They may hold the key to the memories about what caused your journey and how it concludes.

He grins at this and nods, me already able to tell how excited he is for the next day. I sigh, since one of those memories is likely going to mention Hyrule or something similar and he's going to want to go to Hyrule at once. I really don't want him to begin to hate me once he does though…

The next day I do as I said and take him around Termina Field first. It's very hard to find, but he does find a green and brown crystal hidden in the tall grass on the south end of the field. The same thing happens the second he touches it, but the memories seem to be happier. They tell of him riding his horse through the fields during his journey and the meeting afterward with Skull Kid where he forgave him for letting the mask's power control him. I'm glad that these seem to be happier memories, but they still don't explain exactly why he started this journey in Termina, only how the journey came to a conclusion.

We then head into Clock Town, Link being even more excited due to this being the final location in Termina he hasn't found a crystal. It takes the entire day of exploring, but he manages to find a black and white crystal in the laundry pool. He recounts the memories that he just got, "I was searching for a friend...when Skull Kid jumped us…" He then tells me how the entire journey began and the time on the moon fighting Majora. He looks at me so happy when he's finished, "I'm so glad that I remember everything that I did here in this land...It gives me a sense of who I actually was...But, who was the friend that I was searching for? And who is Zelda? I remember a flashback of her teaching me the Song of Time when I got the ocarina…"

I sigh at this, "I don't quite know about the friend, perhaps the fairy that I always saw with you in Hyrule...but Zelda is the princess of that land…"

His eyes light up at this, "Then can we go to Hyrule?! I might get more memories there?!"

I sigh but nod resigned, "Okay...Just promise me something..." He looks at me curiously, "Please try to forgive me for what I did when you regain those memories...Also, please don't hate me…"

He looks stunned by the pure fear and vulnerability in my eyes and voice and he nods, looking a bit worried. "I'll try not to, but I still can't picture you as doing something bad...You're so nice…"

I sigh, "I wasn't always this nice, son. Termina changed me for the better and you even more so."

Link just looks at me confused, but doesn't say anything more, knowing that he's likely going to figure this out soon. I sigh at the conflicting feelings in my heart. Half of me wants him to regain his memories as he seems so much happier while doing so, but the other half...fears the fact that he could very well hate me after this…

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 **Please tell me what you thought of it!**


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